


Open The Door

by itishawkeye



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Homophobia, Pushed out of closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 13:24:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3530951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itishawkeye/pseuds/itishawkeye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick decides to surprise Tim at his house- only to find he doesn't live there anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Open The Door

The heavy oak door of the Drakehouse makes a deep, full noise when Dick knocks. He stands on the brick stairs and waits for someone (hopefully Tim) to come to the door. It had been too long since they had just hung out, and Tim's 16th birthday was approaching fast. Dick was hoping to surprise him with some fast food and movies.

A thin woman with graying hair and kind eyes pulls open the heavy wooden door and Dick shoots her a smile.

The Drake housekeeper has always been nice to him.

"Can I help you?" She asks softly.

"Yeah, I was looking for Tim."

The housekeepers eyes widen and she glances anxiously back into the house.

"There's no one by that name here, sorry," she says quickly, and then there's a slam and he's staring at the deep brown of the door again.

Dick blinks and attempts to process the information that has just been shoved at him. He double checks the number on the house and yes, this is the right one. He had picked Tim up here just a couple months ago. If Tim wasn't living here than where was he? The housekeeper's reaction to his query made him nervous. The mention of Tim's name had obviously made her anxious. What could have happened to cause such a reaction? And more importantly, why hadn't Tim told Dick about it?

Tim hadn't even turned 16 yet. That was much too young to be on his own.

Dick had to find out what happened.

 

One trip to the bat cave later and Dick finds himself in a modest apartment complex four blocks away. He'd followed money transferred from Tim's bank account to the owner of the building and as far as he could tell it was rent.

Dick watches the residents of the building move in and out of the apartments, hoping to see Tim. But, waiting was never Dick's strong suit and eventually he found himself sneaking into the building to find Tim's apartment.

He knows Tim would want someplace higher up, so he immediately heads to the top floor. The hallway has white walls and wooden floors that creak under Dick's weight no matter how ninja-like he walks. Dick thinks that Tim probably likes it that way. He can hear whenever anyone's coming.

"Excuse me, young man, are you looking for something?" Says a voice behind him, and Dick jumps out of his skin because how could someone sneak up him here?

He spins around to reveal a short woman with a wrinkle-laden face and silver hair. Her wide green eyes are filled with ferocity and curiosity and Dick can't help but immediately like her.

"Uh, yeah. My brother. His name is Tim? I'm not exactly sure if he lives here or not."

"Oh, Timmy Drake? I didn't know he had a brother. But I definitely see the resemblance. Timmy is a sweet boy, you should be proud of him," The woman lectures him.

"I'm very proud of Tim," He assures her.

"Good," She says, but it sounds more like she's saying _you better_.

She points towards the door to his right.

"That's his apartment." Dick smiles and thanks her.

He's glad that at least Tim had someone to look after him while he's been going through whatever this is.

This time, the door is answered by Tim. He has on red sweatpants and a black shirt, his hair is a mess of day old gel, and his eyes are still drooping with sleep.

"Dick?" He asks in confusion.

"What are you doing here?"

"Funny story," Dick says as he pushes past Tim into the apartment. "I went to your house and they told me you don't live there anymore."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh," Dick says. "What's going on Tim?"

Tim is resigned to his fate as he closes the door before joining Dick in the kitchen.

"It's nothing, really. I just had a fight with my dad," Tim explains, rubbing the back of his neck. Incurring the wrath of Dick always made him nervous.

"A fight that caused you to buy an apartment?" Dick asks incredulously.

Tim nods. "Yeah. He kicked me out."

Dick doesn't miss the way Tim's voice cracks at the end of that statement.

 "What? Why would he do that?" Dick questions.

"Well, he got a call from a concerned teacher at the school," Tim says the word _concerned_ the same way Bruce might say _criminal_.

"The teacher saw- he saw me kissing a boy" Tim continues, and his cheeks flush red with embarrassment.

"He kicked you out for kissing a boy?" Dick is horrified. He hadn't thought that Jack Drake was that kind of person. Dick guesses he didn't have him pinned as well as he thought.

Tim nods again, refusing to meet Dick's eye.

"Hey," Dick says, softer than before. He reaches out to pull Tim into a hug. "That is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, okay?"

Tim's hand grip the back of his shirt and Dick can practically feel his sigh of relief at Dick's acceptance.

"I just- I was so worried that you and Bruce would think the same thing and then I would really be on my own..." Tim trails off. Dick clutches him tighter.

"You aren't alone in this Tim. You're only 16. You don't have take care of all of this alone."

Tim sniffs a little and smiles. "Thanks, Dick."

Dick ruffles his little brother's hair.

"How did you convince them you were old enough to rent an apartment anyway? You're tiny," He teases.

"Hey!" Tim cries and Dick laughs.

He really loves being an older brother.


End file.
